I completly agree with Tufte's argument here, I think that PowerPoint honestly makes things to boring and plain. Do not get me wrong, in some classes I understand why it is used. If you have a class of four hundred that is the best way for everyone to be able to view the notes of the classroom. The thing that bothers me about it is when, lets say I have a project due and it has to be in PowerPoint format. I was involved in a technology class in high school, and was always taught PowerPoint was meant as an outline, not a book. So while sitting in class I sit and listen to every single bullet on a fifty page slide... not fun. It should be a few points in mind in which you are able to elaborate on without reading it word for word from the slide. I can sit and read the slide just fine without someone reading it for me. So in that sense I believe he is one hundred percent right.
PowerPoint helps the audiences interpretation by allowing them to almost see what they are getting into. The outline of the talk is available for them to view, and in class it helps them so that they can prepare any questions they may have.
Power Points have become somewhat plain and predictable. That, as I think you note here, is often the fault of the person creating the PPoint, and not necessarily a flaw in the medium itself. Considering how often PPoint is used (or misused) in the ways you mention, it's easy to understand why Tufte is so opposed to it...
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